A new law that went into effect in late April will allow government officials to seek relief in court from people who use the public records process with an intent to disrupt government operations. The bill was aimed at curbing public records requests from so-called "bad actors." [...]
A House subcommittee approved a bill on Wednesday that would change the way legislation to create new exemptions to the public records law are vetted. The bill, HB86 by state Rep. Jason Zachary, R-Knoxville, will require House bills that create an exception to the Tennessee Public Records Act to be referred to the House Government Operations Committee for a positive, negative or neutral recommendation. State Rep. Jason Zachary, co-chair of the Open Records Ad Hoc Committee, said in December the task of going through 563 exemptions was too large to get done in five months. Zachary explained any such bill would then go back to the standing committee [...]
This week, I was interviewed along with state Rep. Jason Zachary, R-Knoxville, on the Grand Divisions podcast about open government legislation. We primarily talked about a bill that will require a review of all existing 560-plus exemptions to the Tennessee Public Records Act. Zachary was the co-chair of an ad hoc joint committee, appointed by Lt. Gov. Randy McNally and then-House Speaker Beth Harwell, to consider the growing list of exemptions to the Tennessee Public Records Act for those that need to be eliminated, tweaked, re-examined. Follow this link to hear the podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/user/9033845/grand-divisions-tennessee-news The Grand Divisions podcast is great for anyone interested in state politics. I've been listening since last [...]
An open records committee that has met over the past five months to consider the growing number of exemptions to Tennessee’s Public Records Act says it will recommend a new, more robust process to vet both existing and future exemptions. State Rep. Jason Zachary, R-Knoxville, co-chair of an ad hoc Open Records Committee appointed by House and Senate leaders, said the task of going through 563 exemptions was too large to get done in the few months they were allotted. However, the committee is recommending two major changes: a process for sunsets on existing exemptions and more robust vetting of proposed new exemptions. “We’ve learned that Tennessee needs [...]
The Open Records Ad Hoc Committee will hold its first meeting at 1:30 p.m. Aug. 14 at the Cordell Hull building as part of an effort to review a growing list of exemptions to the public records act. Lt. Gov. Randy McNally and House Speaker Beth Harwell formed the committee in June after a report showed the number of statutory exemptions to Tennessee Public Records Act had grown to 538. State Rep. Jason Zachary, R-Knoxville, is the House chairman of the joint Open Records Ad Hoc Committee, which was formed after a report showed the number of statutory exemptions to the public records law had grown to 538. [...]